


Snow Angel

by Ceata88



Category: Lego Ninjago
Genre: Gen, but I'll write more scenes if people ask, but it doesn't exactly go well, each part is snippets of scenes so this doesn't take 80 years, echo is now the master of ice, mostly echo's POV apart from the interludes, relationships and characters will update as I figure out what's important, snow angel AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-04
Updated: 2018-11-22
Packaged: 2019-08-17 16:35:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 12,594
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16520096
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ceata88/pseuds/Ceata88
Summary: He didn't get a say in any of it. He didn't choose to get taken to that island. He didn't choose to get these ice powers. He didn't choose to be taken to ninjago city. He didn't choose to replace Zane, the master of ice, the white ninja.He wasn't Zane, and he wasn't sure he wanted to be Echo either.So he chose to run away.





	1. Part 1: You're Not Zane

**Author's Note:**

> ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯ Another gd AU is literally anyone surprised lmao
> 
> The ideas ran away from me though
> 
> Title will make more sense later 
> 
> [Cover art](https://66.media.tumblr.com/2e5d43342dd42b70cd562d4bc7da5ae4/tumblr_pholj6weL11rdw8qbo1_1280.png)

    He sat in the jail cell, alone. He still didn’t know what he was doing there. At first they accused him of being the master of ice, but as soon as the voice next door appeared they stopped bothering with him all together.  
  
    Pixal, that was her name. He liked her. The sound of her voice was soothing, made the space feel less empty. Not that he wasn’t used to that living in the lighthouse, but he missed Gizmo.  
  
    There were other voices outside. He tugged against the chains on his arms, though not to hard. Last time he did his arm came loose. He tried to peer outside.  
  
    “With this tournament happening, we may be able to escape.” Pixal said next door.  
  
    He looked over to the bars where her voice came from. “But how? I do not contain any equipment that would be useful.”  
  
    “Zane?”  
  
    Once more he was looking at the door. After a few seconds a person came into view. His eyes were wide, face and hair covered in a white material. It took him a few seconds to realize his hair was black.  
  
    But then the surprise on his face fell, concern filling his eyes.  
  
    “You’re… not Zane.”  
  
\-----------------  
  
    He wasn’t Zane. That’s what the young man had said. It left him thinking long and hard, that if he wasn’t Zane, who was he?  
  
    Pixal explained, at least, who Zane was. But she’d keep calling him Zane if he preferred.  
  
    He figured it was a lost cause. Besides, he picked up the name Echo when the young man came to bust him out. Echo Zane, it wasn’t a title he liked but he accepted it for the time being.  
  
    He insisted on getting Pixal out as well and the young man–Cole–was willing to help. All the found in the next room however was a pile of scrap and a glowing monitor. She’d been taken apart? When?  
  
    But Echo wouldn’t leave her here. He plucked her memory drive out of the computer and stored it in his head. It would do until they could find a safer place to keep her. He watched her pop up in his field of vision, is that what she looked like?  
  
    She made a face, “You need some tune ups when we get out of here.”  
  
    Echo just laughed, feeling the joints in his shoulder getting loose. He wouldn’t object to that.  
  
\-----------------  
  
    Echo liked the other prisoners.  
  
    Some of them were rough, but they were kind, and never gave him the uncomfortable stare that Cole did. Paleman liked to linger in the background, but he could be funny. Chamille had her sharp tongue but would always tell the others to back off when Echo felt uncomfortable. Karlof was good with tools as well, in case Echo fell apart.  
  
    “Metal man should be built of sturdier stuff.” Karlof would pat his arm. “Come visit my hometown of Metalonia, we can help.”  
  
    Echo considered it, but he wasn’t sure what he’d do when he got out of here. Right now he was only going along with all this because Cole asked him to, and Pixal trusted Cole.  
  
    So he did he best to blend in, help with  building when he could. They’d all escape from here.  
  
    Then maybe he could get some answers.  
  
\-----------------  
  
    Why did he have these powers?  
  
    It happened not long after the big fight. Kai, the fire ninja, smashed that staff to pieces. Echo only got a glimpse of the white light before it latched itself onto his power source.  
  
    Suddenly he knew what it meant to feel cold.  
  
    The rest of the ninja didn’t notice, not until they were all outside, destroying Chen’s means of escaping the island. Echo tried to keep quiet, tried testing it on the water to see what would happen. The gasp behind him made him jump. He turned to see the lightning ninja–Jay–with his hands on his cheeks.  
  
    “Guys! He’s still the master of ice.” Jay pointed. “Maybe it really is Zane.”  
  
    “It can’t be Zane,” Cole sighed. “He doesn’t act like him at all.”  
  
    Echo didn’t really hear what else was said. The term “it” buzzed around in his head. Most of the ninja didn’t actually see him as someone, did they.  
  
    Just a poor replacement for something they lost.  
  
\-----------------  
  
    “You should not be out here alone, Echo.” Pixal said as they wandered through the woods.  
  
    So many of the others ran off when Neuro mentioned Skylor was in danger. They had to find her before Chen did. Apparently the man had another plan for activating his spell. Echo was still hazy on the details. No one really explained it to him.  
  
    “I should try and help, shouldn’t I?” Echo said. “That’s at least what I was made for, right?”  
  
    Pixal frowned. “Your abilities are new to you. Without understanding them you could be at risk.”  
  
    Echo stared at his hands. The thought crossed his mind that if something went terribly wrong they all might be better off. It seemed no one was happy with this situation.  
  
    “Please do not think like that.” Pixal said.  
  
    He looked at her the best way he could. “Zane was important to you, wasn’t he? Don’t you miss him?”  
  
    “Yes,” she admitted. “But he’s gone. The decision to risk his life to save everyone was his choice to make. I may not know much about elemental powers, but I imagine the power of ice did not just choose you because it thinks you’re Zane.”  
  
    Echo lowered his hands and looked at the nearby trees. “But even I thought I was Zane. If I’m really not, then who am I?”  
  
\-------------------  
  
    Dragons were nice, Echo thought. It was a shame he couldn’t summon one of his own.  
  
    It seemed he was the only one, among all the other elemental masters. He’d just gotten these powers after all, how could he hope to pull off something like this?  
  
    In fact he seemed to be nothing but a dead weight, watching the rest of these events unfold. Pixal tried to help, give him advice on how to use his powers in the little downtime they had, but the intense temperatures were dangerous for his already damaged body.  
  
    The ninja rarely allowed him to go with them on missions. He hung back in the Samurai X cave with Misako, Wu and Garmadon, listening to them chat and even bicker. Echo didn’t like that much, especially the harsh words toward Garmadon. He hadn’t known the man very long but he’d been nothing but patient and kind. Even looking like a snake now, Echo stuck close to him. The moments they were alone were the only times he didn’t feel uneasy.  
  
    “You’re a fast learner.”  
  
    Garmadon’s voice made Echo jump. The snowball he’d been trying to form between his palms fell to the ground.  
  
    “Ah, Pixal is helping.” Echo said. “But this is difficult without the proper systems to withstand it.”  
  
    Garmadon nodded. “Sadly I’m still not up to date with all of this, but I imagine when this fight is over Cyrus Borg should be able to help you out.”  
  
    Borg? Who was that? Pixal quickly brought up a handful of files about the man.  
  
    “I wish I could be more helpful.” Echo sighed.  
  
    “You’ll get your chance.” Garmadon smiled at him.  
  
    A chirping interrupted them. The Falcon, which Echo learned once belonged to Zane, flew over to the two of them. Without a second through the bird landed on his shoulder.  
  
    “Ah, hello.” Echo said. Did it also think he was Zane? Surely it knew better.  
  
    Whatever it was thinking, it tapped its beak against the shards of ice that formed in Echo’s hair. Garmadon laughed.  
  
    Echo briefly thought if he could have more moments like this, getting through this would be easier.  
  
\-----------------  
  
    The anacondrai army was gone.  
  
    So was Garmadon.  
  
    Echo heard about it second hand. More along the lines of him inquiring as to the man’s location only for Kai to snap at him. Lloyd had to tell him to calm down before he explained.  
  
    “First Zane, now Garmadon.” Kai muttered during the explanation. Echo caught it. He didn’t respond.  
  
    Either way it seemed to throw the entire team into a haze. Echo did his best to avoid all of them, only speaking to Pixal or The Falcon. He tried to slip away to Borg tower, see if he could get those upgrades they all mentioned before.  
  
    “Oh, Echo, wait up.”  
  
    He flinched at the sound of Jay’s voice. Would the lightning ninja make him come back?  
  
    “Where are you going?”  
  
    “Borg tower.” Echo said. “So I can get a proper upgrade and Pixal can get out of my head.”  
  
    “It’s uh, quite a long walk from here.”  
  
    Echo stopped walking, looking up at the desert sky. The stars were out by now, covering the empty black space.  
  
    “I’d give you a lift but I think the tower is closed right now anyway. Can’t wait till tomorrow?”  
  
    Echo frowned before he kept moving. “I do not like being here.”  
  
    “Huh? Hey wait.” Jay darted to catch up. “What’s wrong?”  
  
    Did he even need to ask? He must be aware. “I understand that you and your friends do not want me around.”  
  
    Jay’s laughter was clearly fake. “What? No we just–”  
  
    “I remind you of Zane, but I’m not Zane, yet I have his abilities.”  
  
    “Yeah it’s a bit weird.” Jay admitted. “But it’s not that we hate you or something.”  
  
    Even Pixal scoffed at that comment but she didn’t say anything.  
  
    “Sorry.” Jay said. “A lot has been going on, and it’s a lot to take in. Just stay the night, I’ll take you over there first thing in the morning myself.” He tried to smile. “I’ll even help you figure out the specs for your upgrades.”  
  
    Echo wasn’t too sure, but at least it seemed like Jay was making an effort. He nodded.  
  
    “Cool, come on you can stick with me if the others are weirding you out.”  
  
    Jay gestured to him and headed back to the entrance to the samurai X cave. Echo hadn’t even asked them if this was where they always stayed or if they had another place.  
  
    He spared the night sky one more glance before he followed.  
  
\-------------  
  
   _Internal temperature: -30ºC_  
  
    Echo exhaled, fog rising from his mouth. By now the training room was covered in ice, spikes of it jutting out. With his new systems he was able to test a lot more things, but had to keep monitoring his systems before things got out of hand.  
  
    Jay said it should be able to withstand the harsh cold. It was so much more mobile as well, but it kept a lot of the things Echo was used to. Running on walls and ceilings was even easier now than it was before. At some point he wanted to use that with his ice to easily skate around a room.  
  
    He’d been at this for a few weeks now, ever since he got reuploaded. Pixal came by when she can. It was almost surprising how much she knew about combat considering Echo never saw her do it.  
  
    He wished the ninja would help, but Jay was the only one comfortable around him. Lloyd and Nya were at least making an effort, as well as their teacher, Master Wu. Kai and Cole however couldn’t look him in the eye.  
  
    All things with time. That’s what Wu told him when Echo mentioned it.  
  
    He could be patient. He’d been patient for a long time.  
  
    Echo felt the ice in the ground before focusing his power. With a snap of his arms a wall of it appeared in front of him. He grinned, impressed by its height. If he kept this up it was only a matter of time before–  
  
    He paused, looking directly at his reflection in the sheer sheet.  
  
    Even after those few weeks he still didn’t recognize it. All that copper and bronze was gone, replaced by titanium they said. His eyes glowed blue and was his hair white or just a pale grey?  
  
    He knew what it reminded him of. It reminded him of Zane, all those photos he saw, his blueprints.  
  
    Echo reached up to touch his face, watching his reflection do the same even though it shouldn’t. That wasn’t him.  
  
    It wasn’t him.  
  
    His stance shifted as he slammed his fist directly into the wall. His powers made it shatter easily, the thick blocks of ice collapsing to the ground as the smaller shards danced in the air like snow.  
  
    He glared at the pile, seeing steam rise out of his mouth once more.  
  
   _Internal temperature: 33ºC_  
  
\--------------------  
  
    Echo felt listless, wandering around Borg tower as he often did these days. The ninja were off dealing with something pertaining to building Wu’s new tea shop. Echo wasn’t unaware that Lloyd wasn’t happy about this idea. He’d gotten very good at reading the ninjas’ moods by this point.  
  
    Pixal wasn’t around either, helping Borg out with something in his lab for the time being. Echo imagined if the ninja found another job she’d no doubt be helping them, unless she decided it wasn’t worth it when Zane wasn’t around.  
  
    Would Echo ever be able to live up to that standard?  
  
    He tried not to think about it. Perhaps he’d go and watch some TV. Jay showed him a number of shows he could try.  
  
    Something pinged in his system. He looked to see he had a new message. Was it Pixal? Echo opened it only to find out it was someone entirely new.  
  
    _???: Hello ?_  
  
    Echo frowned, not sure if this was some kind of breach or what.  
  
  _Yes? Who is this? :Echo_  
  
_???: I01110100’01110011 090a01101110e_  
  
    What kind of mess was that? Even in code it was jumbled. Echo took a moment to pick out the letters. At least the message wasn’t very long.  
  
    Then his power core seemed to freeze when he realized what it said.  
  
    _It’s Zane._  
  
\--------------------  
  
    “Zane’s here? He’s really here?” Cole kept asking over and over. Echo wished he could somehow shrink farther into the plush chairs Borg always kept in this meeting room. It seemed a bit excessive, didn’t it?  
  
    “From what I can tell, yes.” Borg answered. He kept sparing Echo an apologetic glance, as if to say he would have excused him if he could.  
  
    “Then why not put him into a new body?” Jay asked.  
  
    “It’s not that simple.” Borg sighed. “His code is… scattered from what I can tell. I’m trying to gather it all in one place but there’s a lot of it, as you can imagine. Pixal is helping me in that regard. If we can channel it all to one location it should be possible to communicate with him properly.”  
  
    The expressions on the ninja’s faces were nothing short of joy and relief. Nya hugged Lloyd. Jay jumped from his seat. Cole looked like he might cry.  
  
    Echo wondered if it was a bad thing that he felt nothing.  
  
\---------------------  
  
    How did this happen?  
  
    Pixal spoke to him about the program she had set up. Her and Borg were now trying to build a hub the right size for all the code, after that they could run the program and they should be able to upload Zane in less than a day.  
  
    He must not have been the only one they told.  
  
    Cole surprised him, suddenly standing outside the training room. His face was serious, dark, Echo should have known something was off from the start. Then again, Cole was always the hardest to read.  
  
    He was too focused on it to notice Kai sneak up behind him with the taser.  
  
    His systems dropped in a second.  
  
    And now? He couldn’t move. He was laying down but he couldn’t move. He could hear Cole and Kai arguing but their voices sounded like static. He couldn’t make out the words.  
  
    It wasn’t until he saw the words “Upload Initiated” that he began to panic.  
  
    No. No no no. He could see the code piling into his system, crowding up his vision. Was this Zane? Were they really just trying to replace him with Zane?  
  
    But that made sense, didn’t it?  
  
    They were better off with Zane.  
  
    His vision went black for the longest time. He couldn’t feel anything. After a while he seemed to blink. He looked down to see his hands which were bronze once again. Where was he? Everything was pitch black.  
  
    “Hello?”  
  
    Echo spun around to see his reflection. No, that wasn’t his reflection.  
  
    It was Zane.  
  
    The other nindroid couldn’t be standing that far away, but it felt like he was. Echo’s body went stiff. Should he run? What good would that do? No doubt the code would overrun his systems sooner or later.  
  
    Zane approached him, slow. His form seemed to shift, flash, distort. One moment he grew huge, the next he shrunk. His colors weren’t right.  
  
    “Who are you?” Zane’s voice glitched. He was right in front of Echo now, hand raised.  
  
    Echo squeezed his eyes shut, afraid if he was touched everything would shut down. What would become of him then? Would they just delete him? Cram him into a folder? He’d have a better idea of how Pixal felt at least.  
  
    “Pixal?” Zane said. “You know Pixal.”  
  
    “Y-yes.” Echo said. “I–I’m Echo, I guess.”  
  
    “You guess?” Zane tilted his head and lower his hand.  
  
    “That’s the name they gave me since I’m not…” He finally met Zane’s gaze. His blue eyes were gentle. “Since I’m not you.”  
  
    Zane almost looked like he would laugh. “Well, of course you’re not. But are you Echo?”  
  
    His body relaxed a bit. “I don’t know. I… never really got a say in the matter. I don’t get a say in this matter either.”  
  
    “What do you mean?” Zane frowned. “What’s going on? I’ve been trying to figure out where I am, but I can only access so much of my system at once. Now everything’s coming together but…”  
  
    “It’s a program.” Echo explained. “It’s supposed to funnel your  code into a hub to keep you collected. Your… the other ninja hooked me up to it instead.”  
  
    Zane’s form flashed again. His eyes were wide, nothing but shock on his features.  
  
    “They did what?”  
  
    “They want you back.” Echo said. “Especially Cole and Kai. They want you back so I guess they thought they could–”  
  
    “They can’t replace me.” Zane interrupted. “They cannot replace me and it is unfair to use you as a means to try. I… did things truly get that bad after I died?”  
  
    Echo looked at the ground.  
  
    “Where did you come from?”  
  
    “The lighthouse. Father built me there but I wasn’t properly activated until after he left. I waited for him but…” Echo shook his head. His thoughts felt hazy, like everything was shutting down.  
  
    “Nevermind it, there’s no time to explain.” Zane reached out again, touching his face. “Can you listen to me, for just a moment?”  
  
    Echo glanced up at him.  
  
    “If you are not Zane, and you are not Echo, you need to decide who you are for yourself. That isn’t something anyone else can do for you. At one point I questioned my identity myself, and it was only through having confidence in my identity that I reached my full potential. I believe you will find it as well.”  
  
    Echo was stunned. It wasn’t what he expected to hear from Zane at all. Didn’t he want his life back? Didn’t he want to be with his friends.  
  
    “Of course I do.” Zane smiled and let go. “But not at the sacrifice of someone else, especially not my little brother.”  
  
    Echo’s chest felt tight.  
  
    Zane stepped back, then back again, farther and farther. His form was distorting again. “If you feel unsafe, do not linger. I will do what I can from here.”  
  
    He kept moving away. Echo’s legs finally decided to work again. He tried to sprint forward, reaching out. He didn’t want Zane to go just yet. They still had things to talk about.  
  
    No good. The image vanished. His vision returned.  
  
    _[Download failure]_  
  
    What? Had Zane completely backed himself out of Echo’s systems? Did he have the ability to do that? He must, because Echo couldn’t find a trace of him by this point. As soon as he regained movement he sat up, ripping the wires out of the side of his head.  
  
    “Zane?”  
  
    He glanced over to see Cole and Kai approaching him, nervous but hopeful. They couldn’t tell who was in here right now, could they. Ever since getting these powers Echo’s eyes glowed the same shade of blue.  
  
    But he wasn’t Zane.  
  
    He wasn’t Zane.  
  
    And he wasn’t sure he wanted to be Echo either.  
  
   _Internal temperature: 45ºC … 46ºC … 47ºC_  
  
    Despite the rising temperature, ice enveloped the room. It cracked as it climbed over the wires at the computers. The glass screens and the windows cracked. Steam rose from Echo as the ice tried to form on his arms.  
  
    Kai and Cole took a step back, looking around as the ice kept growing and moving. Spikes formed on the walls.  
  
    “Zane?” Kai said again.  
  
    Echo gritted his teeth as he jumped off the table. The window shattered.  
  
    “My name isn’t _Zane_!” He clenched his fists before snapping his hands out. Spikes jutted out of the floor. Cole and Kai jumped back to avoid them, only for Echo to clench his hands once more and pull them back.  
  
    The spikes on the ceiling came loose.  
  
    Cole screamed. Kai set up a flame to scatter the ice. Steam flooded through the room. Echo used the cover to dash to the window, jumping out of it without a second thought.  
  
    Perhaps it was dangerous, as high as they were, but Echo just let himself free fall for a while. When he got close enough to the ground he shot streams of ice out of hands. The force slowed his fall enough that when he landed it didn’t do any damage apart from sending up a flurry of snow. The people on the street gasped. Echo ignored them and sprinted down the road. Only a few paces in he covered the ground in front of him with more ice, skating along it to gain speed.  
  
    He wasn’t Zane. Maybe he wasn’t Echo either.  
  
    But he’d figure that out on his own.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kai and Cole please....... 
> 
> Will Zane come back properly who knows (I do)


	2. Interlude 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pixal is fucking pissed™
> 
>  
> 
> [Cover art](https://66.media.tumblr.com/609e8a9e328740477a936c5715529da3/tumblr_phqewlsKQI1rdw8qbo1_1280.png)

    “What happened?”  
  
    Borg verbalized the question that Pixal kept asking in her head over and over again as she stepped into the room. Most of the equipment still had ice on it. The screens were damaged beyond repair, no doubt the computers were as well. Most of the wires had snapped under the strain. If that wasn’t enough, the water soaking every surface from the melting ice would have been more than enough to finish off anything that lasted.  
  
    This meant her set up to get Zane back was in pieces, and she’d have to start over.  
  
    As if that didn’t annoy her enough, the use of ice told her off the bat something happened to Echo. And where was he now? Pixal had been twenty floors above, she didn’t pick up on anything going on until there was a security alert about the broken window.  
  
    By the time she and Borg got here the found Kai and Cole outside the room, using hushed voices. Lloyd might be at the tea shop, but Nya and Jay joined the investigation.  
  
    But despite Borg verbalizing the question, there still wasn’t an answer.  
  
    So Pixal tried a different one.  
  
    “Where’s Echo?” She snapped her head around to look at the two boys. Cole flinched. Kai kept looking away.  
  
    Could they be any more obvious they were hiding something?  
  
    Pixal didn’t want to believe they hurt Echo, or frightened him. These were her allies, Zane’s allies, but sometimes humans did illogical things when faced with heavy emotion.  
  
    “Sorry, perhaps you didn’t hear me.” She stepped over to them, grateful for her increase in height after being rebuilt. Six feet tall just wasn’t enough for her, adding four more inches did wonders. “Where is Echo?”  
  
    Kai curled up even tighter. Cole opened his mouth to speak, only to cringe and point to the window.  
  
    “That doesn’t answer my question.” She leaned even closer.  
  
    “We don’t know.” Kai said. “He jumped out of the window and ran off. You can try following the trail of ice.”  
  
    “I’m on it.” Jay said, already dashing down the hall.  
  
    “And why did he do that?” Pixal continued. “What happened?”  
  
    Once again she was met with silence. Both of them had guilt all over their faces at this point, although in different ways. Cole kept rubbing the back of his neck. Kai’s nails dug into his arm.  
  
    Something bad happened, and right now these two were her only means of finding out. She didn’t give a damn if they felt bad.  
  
    But if they wouldn’t talk easily…  
  
    Pixal’s hand shot out. She grabbed the collar of Kai’s shirt and dragged him toward the window.  
  
    “Wh– Pixal? Hey!” Kai struggled to free himself, but Pixal was far stronger. The material stretched underneath her grip but she didn’t let go. As soon as she reached the edge of the room she swung Kai around, holding him over the edge.  
  
    “Pixal are you crazy?” Kai screamed.  
  
    “What happened?” She raised her voice. “I won’t ask again.”  
  
    “You can’t be–”  
  
    “ _What happened_?”  
  
    “We–” Kai tried once more to free himself. “We thought… We thought we could just… use your program to download Zane into Echo.”  
  
    What?  
  
    It took all of Pixal’s self control not to drop Kai anyway. Instead she spun back around and tossed him onto the floor.  
  
    “You did _what_?”  
  
    “Why would you do that?” Nya added.  
  
    “We could get Zane back.” Cole argued.  
  
    “That doesn’t give you the right to replace Echo to do it.” Pixal said. “And judging by the state of this room, he didn’t even agree to it in the first place.”  
  
    Cole looked away.  
  
    “Despicable.” Pixal spat. “Father, I’m going to assist Jay in searching. Hopefully we can catch him.”  
  
    Borg nodded as she stepped past. “Indeed, Nya should go as well. I’ll have these two boys clean up this room.” It was rare that her father looked angry, and it was generally fairly subtle, but his gaze was much sharper underneath his glasses. “We’ll decide what to do when it’s all sorted.”  
  
    “Come on Pixal.” Nya gestured. “I’ll show you how to use the Samurai Bike.”  
  
    She followed, but not until she shot Cole and Kai one more glare. This wasn’t over, and if they couldn’t find Echo well…  
  
    She’d decide what to do with them on the way back.


	3. Part 2: Maybe Not Echo

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Echo wants answers. He wants direction. He wants to find a new name for himself besides one that reminds him that he's nothing more than a lesser replacement. 
> 
> Echo doesn't like believing in fate, but perhaps it's more than coincidence he runs into the grandson of the master of ice before Zane.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not 100% how far I'll take this au yet but I'm at least getting past season 5 
> 
> This AU has Frigidus because it's my AU so I do what I want
> 
>  [Cover art](http://ceata88.tumblr.com/post/180315698974/echo-wants-answers-he-wants-direction-he-wants)

    It had been two weeks since Echo ran away.  
  
    He wasn’t unaware that the ninja were looking for him. Getting out of the city was tricky, and even then he’d sometimes see the Samurai X mech flying around up above.  
  
    Thankfully, it was much harder for them to see him this far north. If there was any blessing to this dull grey and white it was blending in with the snow.  
  
    He’d made the journey to the birchwood forest on foot. It was the only place he could think to go. The others mentioned to him once that’s where Zane discovered his true identity. It was one of his father’s labs.  
  
    Reaching the lighthouse right now was impossible, sadly. Maybe if he ever figured out how to summon a dragon.  
  
    Echo wasn’t sure where he was going. There wasn’t any kind of map or indication on what path to take. A lot of the forest looked the same in this weather.  
  
    Great.  
  
    A chirp made him jump. He turned to see Zane’s falcon flying up behind him before it landed on a nearby branch.  
  
    “H-hello.” Echo stuttered. “You’re not going to tell the others where I am, are you?”  
  
    The falcon tilted its head before shaking it.  
  
    “Oh, good.”  
  
    The bird chirped at him again and took off. Did it want him to follow? It knew where to go, right?  
  
    Echo ran after it, having no trouble keeping up in spite of the deep snow. He followed its twists and turns, but after a while he lost sight of it.  
  
    “Falcon?” He called out, looking left and right. There was a sharp thud nearby. Echo frowned at the noise, slowly stepping toward it to investigate.  
  
    There was a young man out here, trying to shove a stick into a spot in a tree. He was cursing to himself, eventually tossing the hood of his fuzzy blue hoodie back. His hair was stark white, fluffy, most of it pushed over to one side.  
  
    He kicked the tree with the rough bottoms of his snow boots.  
  
    “Damn it.” He cursed. “Finally find it and it’s locked. There’s got to be a way in.”  
  
    Echo dared to step out. “Hello?”  
  
    The young man jumped and whirled around. Now Echo could see the ski goggles covering his face, hiding most of his expression. Even then, Echo could see the shift in surprise to pure shock.  
  
    “You… aren’t you the white ninja?”  
  
    Echo flinched. “Not...exactly.”  
  
    “The fuck does that mean? Do you have my grandfather’s power or not.”  
  
    Echo blinked. “Your grandfather?”  
  
    “Christ, Dr. Julien really didn’t tell you shit, did he.” The guy must be glaring at him. “Your ice power, it was stolen.”  
  
    Echo didn’t reply to that. He glanced at the snow, then at the tree where his father’s symbol was carved into it. Stolen? Well, perhaps that made sense. How else would a nindroid have gotten it.  
  
    Why did he have it?  
  
    “To be completely honest, I was working on a way to get it back, and then you just waltz over here.”  
  
    Echo glanced at the symbol on the tree once more before he glared at it. “If you want it, you can have it.”  
  
    The guy paused at that before he straightened up. “Eh?”  
  
    “This ice power, I never asked for it. Zane died, people mistook me for him, even the element it seems. People kept treating me like some kind of replacement, or an obstacle…” He tried to forget the cold stare Cole gave him before him and Kai knocked him out.  
  
    “Wait.” The young man’s posture relaxed. “You’re not Zane?”  
  
    “No. I was going by Echo for a while, but I’m not sure I want to be called that either.” He stared at the ground. “I was also built by Dr. Julien, for a reason I don’t understand. I’d… I’d rather just decide who I am for myself.”  
  
    The young man stared at him for the longest time. The air was silent, just the occasional small breeze through the empty tree branches.  
  
    Finally he sighed, pulling the ski goggles off his face. “You know, you’re not as bad as I expected. Maybe we can both figure something out down the road.”  
  
    Echo studied his gaze. His blue eyes looked tired, almost desperate.  
  
    “My name’s Frigidus. Frigidus Polaris.”  
  
\------------------  
  
    “Ugh, sorry, I know it’s not the best.” Frigidus scrambled around the tiny room inside the tomb, organizing a few things and tossing some wood on a makeshift fire pit. After a few minutes he managed to light it. “But this should be a good place for you to hide out for now.”  
  
    Echo was surprised by the computer off to the side, kept on by a generator. “Did you make this?”  
  
    “Yeah, future hideout if I need it. I uh… due to recent events I started investing a lot more in a… hobby of mine.”  
  
    Echo frowned. “So why sound so guilty?”  
  
    “Hacking isn’t exactly a legal hobby.” Frigidus said.  
  
    “Why is that your hobby?”  
  
    “Why do you think?” Frigidus looked at him. “A robot was running around with my grandfather’s power. Told myself for years I’d find a way to get it back, so learning programming and computers seemed like the best first step.”  
  
    “I see,” Echo stepped over to the small desk, running his fingers along the three monitors. “How much have you learned?”  
  
    “A lot, soon to be more after raiding Birchwood.” Frigidus straightened up and scratched his cheek. “Though it almost seems like a moot point with you just hanging around.”  
  
    “No, if I do give this back to you someday we’d have to find an efficient way to do it.” Echo thought for a moment. “If you need help getting into Borg tower...”  
  
    “Oh, is that an offer?” Frigidus said. “Man, sometime you’ll have to tell me what made you run this far from the rest of the ninja.”  
  
    “It’s not a pleasant story.”  
  
    “Don’t worry, we’ve all got one of those.” Frigidus glanced to the side while his fingers gripped his shirt for a moment. “Anyway, hopefully it won’t be too cold here. As soon as our house is rebuilt you can hide in there.”  
  
    Echo blinked. “Your house is being rebuilt? What happened to it?”  
  
    Frigidus flinched, suddenly moving as far away from the fire as he could. He placed a hand against the icey wall of the room.  
  
    “It burned down.”  
  
    Echo gasped. “What? When?”  
  
    Frigidus bit his lip, finally meeting his gaze.  
  
    “When the Anacondrai army came through.”  
  
\-------------  
  
    Echo let out a long breath to release the hot air building up in his system as he lifted the axe again. No doubt he’d gathered plenty of wood by now, but he needed a distraction.  
  
    Frigidus’s village got raided during Chen’s invasion. His house got burned down. His mother almost died. There was probably more, but by that point Frigidus was in no condition to keep talking. Something about the cold put him at ease, so Echo let him cling to his ice covered arm.  
  
    And he wasn’t sure how to feel about it. It wasn’t his fault, or even the ninja’s fault exactly. In a battle you have to find your strategies, figure out the best move. A frontal attack would have been useless.  
  
    But still, during all that planning, couldn’t they have helped some of these people evacuate?  
  
    What probably infuriated him the most is he was constantly put on the sidelines during all of it. Him, with his ice powers, which could have put out that fire.  
  
    It helped him better understand Frigidus’s motivation, at least.  
  
    Echo considered it was unwise to attach himself so strongly to someone he only met a few days ago, but it made sense that he would. He’d been alone for as long as he could remember aside from Gizmo. He got dragged into a situation he never wanted, betrayed by the people he considered allies. Well, perhaps not Pixal, but she was an exception.  
  
    With nothing left, he could either stay cynical and untrusting or try and start over.  
  
    Echo set another log down and raised his axe.  
  
\---------------  
  
    “Okay, you can stay up here.” Frigidus kept his voice low as the pair of the slipped into the attic of the new house. It’d taken a few months to complete, but all in all it seemed nice. It was even all on one floor considering Ursula’s spine was damaged from the fire.  
  
    Echo still hadn’t met her yet. Frigidus kept putting it off for one reason or another, and Echo refused to argue with it.  
  
    That’s why he was now hiding in the attic. It was bigger than he expected, still clean from being new and empty due to the lack of storage. At least the rest of the house was furnished, with the townsfolk being kind enough to donate furniture and the like.  
  
    Frigidus said not everything got burned down at least. One corner of the house remained somewhat intact by the time they got the fire put out, but it only left them with a handful of photos.  
  
    “Honestly don’t know if an attic is better.” Frigidus climbed all the way up. “I mean, at least the basement last time kept some of our stuff safe. Anything up here could just get torched again.”  
  
    “But you still have a basement, don’t you?” Echo tilted his head.  
  
    “Yeah, but you know. Just hope this isn’t used as the main storage space. Least it has a window.” Frigidus looked over at it. It was late, possibly midnight, Echo hadn’t checked the time. Despite how dark it was outside the snow reflected off the mountain, giving half the room a blue glow.  
  
    Echo swirled his hands together, watching bits of ice form and dance around his fingers.  
  
    Frigidus snorted. “You trying to make it snow in my attic?”  
  
    Echo frowned. “Could I?”  
  
    “Of course you could, you’re the master of ice. Did they teach you nothing?” Frigidus scooted closer to him.  
  
    Echo stilled his hands, letting the ice vanished. “No, not really. The ninja were too uncomfortable, I imagine, and Pixal only knew so much.”  
  
    “Shame, we should do some training sometime. I can teach you all the stuff my grandfather taught me.” Frigidus reached out and took Echo’s hands. “Even without his power he taught me a lot.”  
  
    “Like what?”  
  
    Frigidus’s smile was fond as he stared at Echo’s palms. “That they key to winning with ice is wit, not power. That in order to master it you have to keep your heart warm. It’s a dangerous element, but it’s beautiful too.” He smiled wider as he glanced up. “Think of something like that, something beautiful. Think about it and try and make a small flurry in your hands.”  
  
    Something beautiful? He tried to think of something, ignoring the cynical part of his mind that’d only gotten worse and worse over the months. Sometimes it was hard to focus on anything but how lost he felt. Things he used to find joy in only made him bitter and angry. He was mad at his father, at that lighthouse, at being left there, at being dragged to prison, at having these ice powers, of almost being replaced.  
  
    He hadn’t asked for any of it.  
  
    “That’s ironic.” Frigidus snorted.  
  
    Echo blinked. “What is?”  
  
    “You’re the master of ice but you heat up when you’re annoyed.”  
  
    “Sorry,” Echo attempted to pull his hands back but Frigidus tightened his grip.  
  
    “Come on, there’s gotta be something you like. Something that puts you at ease.”  
  
    Something that put him at ease…  
  
    Echo thought about the times he’d scale the mountain, climb as high as he could. Most days it was just to blow steam, use up energy, keep himself from being too idle in that cave. But every now and then when he’d do it, he’d manage to get above the clouds. He’d look out from the icy peak and see nothing but a sea of white.  
  
    It was one of the few times seeing the color didn’t make him feel sick. Stark white against deep blue. The air was cold but he couldn’t feel it. He’d glance up to see the sun.  
  
    It was warm.  
  
    “Hah, look at that.”  
  
    Echo brought his vision back to the present and glanced down at his hands. Snowflakes spun up into the air before drifting back down. They reflected the glow from the window, glittering even in the low light.  
  
    “See? Easy.” Frigidus smiled at him. Some of the snow got caught in his hair and on the fuzzy collar of his hood.  
  
    “Yes.” Echo quietly agreed as he looked back at their hands again.  
  
    It was beautiful.  
  
\---------------  
  
    “Now we’re getting somewhere.” Frigidus grinned as he plugged in the last of the machines they brought. Coming out to the lighthouse was a regular trip now. Sure they might have stolen the boat they kept using, but no one tried to arrest them for it yet.  
  
    Recovering Gizmo had been their first mission. The small robot was now happily helping Frigidus’s mother at the house. She’d recovered enough by now to move around in her wheelchair, but some of her burns were still healing. It made speaking difficult for her, but she knew sign language.  
  
    Echo finally introduced himself when they brought Gizmo. Ursula just seemed excited that her son had a friend, the new master of ice no less.  
  
    Echo didn’t explain to her how he got that power. She never asked.  
  
    Every trip to the lighthouse they brought more and more equipment. While it was much farther than Frigidus’s other hideout it was better setup for some of the mechanical plans they had. The first and foremost in Echo’s book, changing his appearance.  
  
    Frigidus started scrounging up the materials as soon as they began to talk about it. Titanium wasn’t cheap, but they had connections. Karlof was more than eager to lend a hand when they went to visit. He even showed them ways to change the color of the metal.  
     
    No more of this dull silver.  
  
    “What about your hair?” Frigidus asked. “I mean, all this stuff should be fun but if you think I’m redoing an entire thing of hair like that you’re wrong.”  
  
    Echo shrugged, running his hand through the thin bits of metal. He wasn’t entirely sure what it was made of. “If you can’t make it longer just get rid of half of it.”  
  
    Frigidus frowned. “What, like an undercut?”  
  
    “That should work.”  
  
    “Hum, that’ll be weird.”  
  
    “How so?”  
  
    “I just can’t picture you as some kind of bad boy.”  
  
    “I bet I can figure it out.” Echo smirked.  
  
    His friend laughed before heading over to the first crate. He pried it open. “Whatever, bad boy, let’s worry about that after putting all this stuff on. We’ve got a lot of parts to go through.” He pulled out some plating. “Let’s start with your arms.”  
  
\------------------  
  
    “Echo, dear? Can you come here for a moment?”  
  
    Echo glanced over his shoulder as he lowered the dish in his hand back into the sink. “Coming.” He set it down before cutting the water off. He grabbed the dish towel off the counter and made sure to dry his hands, still appreciating all the gold and copper tones Frigidus put in place.  
  
    It felt so much more like him.  
  
    He initially tossed the towel down only for Gizmo–who was drying dishes–to fuss at him. Echo made a face, but folded it properly and put it on the hook.  
  
    Echo glanced into the living room before heading down the hall. Just where had Ursula called him from?  
  
    He found her in her room, still next to her sewing table. There was a jacket in her arms, a hoodie. It almost reminded Echo of the one Frigidus wore, but it was a rusty red as opposed to a dark blue.  
  
    “Yes ma’am?” He asked as he stepped inside.  
  
    “Could you try this on for me?” She held the coat out to him.  
  
    Echo hesitated for a moment but finally took it. He tossed it over his shoulders before slipping his arms through. A near perfect fit, even with the shape of his elbows.  
  
    “Ah, good.” She smiled at him. “I was worried it might not fit right since I had to use your shirts to guess, and those were all from the second hand store.”  
  
    Echo blinked, trying to take that information in. “Wait. Are you saying this is mine?”  
  
    Ursula laughed as she began to sort out the loose thread on her table. “Of course it is. Sorry if you’re not a big fan of surprises, but you’re always running around in second hand shirts and khakis. Even if you don’t get cold it worries me that you’re running around without a jacket on.” She clumped together some of the thread before tossing it in a plastic bin at the end of the table. “You said anything but blue or white in terms of colors you like. I thought the red would match all your copper.”  
  
    He stared at her, then back at the coat. The design was almost exactly like Frigidus’s, down to the patch on the chest that remained blank.  
  
    “Ah, I can sew something in there if you like.” She added. “I wasn’t sure what you’d want, and Frigidus went and put a holo screen in his.” She rolled her eyes. “But if you ever want me to add something let me know, goodness knows I have the free time.”  
  
    Echo couldn’t stop staring. She made this for him? Just for him? Some kind of present?  
  
    He’d never gotten one of those before.  
  
    He was shaking. Why was he shaking? His chest felt tight and he wished he could do something to ease it. Scream? No, that wasn’t right.  
  
    “Dear? Are you okay?”  
  
    Echo glanced at Ursula. Her head was tilted, concern on her face. Was his distress that obvious?  
  
    “What’s wrong?” She continued.  
  
    “I… I don’t know.” Echo admitted. “I feel sad, but I am not sad. I like this, it’s lovely, so why do I feel sad?”  
  
    Ursula pulled her hands back into her lap as she studied his face. Then after a few seconds she opened her arms, gesturing to him. “Come here.”  
  
    Echo hesitated but stepped over. He let her pull him into a hug, one of her hands running through his hair.  
  
    She sighed. “Never had someone give you a present, huh?”  
  
    “Well, no.” Echo pulled away.  
  
    “Then,” she held his face. “It’s a good thing you’re with better people now, yeah?”  
  
    Echo’s chest felt tighter. He couldn’t keep his arms from shaking.  
  
    “I should make you something else.” Ursula smiled at him and finally let go. “Any requests?”  
  
    “Wh– You don’t need to–”  
  
    “I have lots of spare time, Echo.”  
  
    “I know, but I can’t ask–”  
  
    “You’re not asking. I am.” She waved a hand at him. “You can think about it if you need to, but if you want me to make you something just let me know.”  
  
    “I… okay.” Echo turned to leave before realizing he forgot something. He spun back around, already picking at the sleeves on the hoodie. “Thank you.”  
  
    Ursula smiled at him. “Anytime, dear.”  
  
\----------------  
  
    “Alright, holo targets ready.” Frigidus held up a hand from his perch on the boulder. “Go!”  
  
    Echo shot forward, already creating a path of ice on the ground in front of him. He slid onto it with ease, picking up speed as he headed toward the first few targets. His hand shot out. Darts of ice seemed to fire from his fingertips. One target down, two. He created a curve in the ice for a quick turn. Three, four. Easy enough. Now came the moving targets. The holo targets taunted him as they hovered back and forth.  
  
    He tried something different this time, forming a ramp in the ice. He launched himself in the air and twisted around.  
  
    Five, six, and seven.  
  
    He messed up the landing though, hitting the snow with his face with his limbs flat against the ground.  
  
    “Well, you got ‘em.” Frigidus was clearly trying not to laugh. “Have to work on your jumps it seems.”  
  
    “Shut up.” Echo tilted his head up and spat the snow out of his mouth. “Like to see you land it.”  
  
    “Guess that’s true.” Frigidus headed over, tapping a few more things onto his holo screen before he closed it. “Man, look at you, like you’re trying to create a reverse snow angel.”  
  
    Echo frowned. “A what?”  
  
    “You don’t know about snow angels?” Frigidus immediately flopped onto his back.  
  
    Echo stood up, dusting some of the snow off his hoodie. He watched Frigidus lay in the snow, moving his arms up and down as his legs moved side to side. The nindroid tilted his head, trying to figure out what it was supposed to be.  
  
    Frigidus was careful as he got up, making sure to take a wide step out of the shape.  
  
    “That’s a snow angel.” Frigidus pointed at it. “See, it looks like it’s wearing some kind of robe. My hood gives it a bit of big head, but you know.” He shrugged.  
  
    Echo kept frowning. “What’s an angel?”  
  
    “Oh,” Frigidus said. “Yeah, I guess it makes more sense you’ve never heard of those. Crazy stories, apparently only around the mountains though. I think the library in town still has some books on them.”  
  
    “Are they a species? Like serpentine?”  
  
    “Nothing like serpentine.” Frigidus snorted. “No clue if they’re even real, it’s just stories. Any reports on them are all from people who were either dreaming or in some kind of near death situation. Some appeared more human like, white robes, very bright, but that’s all they can describe. Something about their appearance kept shifting.”  
  
    Frigidus knelt down in the snow and began to draw. “The others are much spookier. Some had four faces. Others hide their faces with their wings. A lot of them were covered in eyeballs.” He drew a vague shape of a wing, dotting it with eyes. “You should see the illustrations, they’re wild.”  
  
    Echo looked over the vague drawing. “But they’re not real?”  
  
    “I’ve never seen one.” Frigidus said. “A lot of other people haven’t either, but you know, doors between realms are a thing. Who knows what they really are, if they exist.”  
  
    Echo wondered for a moment. He’d never taken the time to research the other realms either. Maybe it was time for him to start digging around Borg Tower again for some data.  
  
    But in the meantime…  
  
    Echo rolled his shoulders and shook off the snow once more. “We should do some more training.”  
  
    “Echo, we’ve been doing this for hours.” Frigidus frowned.  
  
    “That doesn’t change the fact I still need practice. If you think I should practice flips perhaps we should head to the top of the hill and–”  
  
    Something hit his face. He blinked, wiping his cheek to see all the snow. Frigidus stood a few feet away, a grin on his face as he got another snowball ready.  
  
    “Nope, we’ll do that tomorrow.”  
  
    “Frigidus, this is serious.” Echo frowned.  
  
    “I know, you’re too serious. Did those ninja destroy your sense of fun too?”  
  
    “I–” Echo opened his mouth, not sure how to answer it. He’d always found ways to entertain himself in the lighthouse, but after getting these powers it felt like messing around was just a waste of time.  
  
    Frigidus nailed him in the shoulder with the next snowball. “Consider it dodging practice.”  
  
    Echo glanced at his shoulder before looking back at Frigidus. He was arming himself again.  
  
    Echo snorted and finally smiled. “Challenging the master of ice to a snowball fight? It seems foolish.”  
  
    “I’m no quitter.”  
  
    “Then I accept your challenge.” Echo simply summoned the snow in his hand. “En garde!”  
  
\------------------  
  
    “Hey, Echo, you up here?”  
  
    Echo didn’t move. He kept staring at the notebook in front of him. Dozens and dozens of names written down only to be scratched out. He was curled up on his bed, that he didn’t entirely need, but it was a nice comfort to have.  
  
    He heard the ladder creak and glanced over to see Frigidus poke his head up into the attic. Instead of coming all the way up he just crossed his arms and leaned against the floor.  
  
“You’ve been up here most of the day. Something wrong?”  
  
“I was trying to find a new name.” Echo looked back at the notebook. “But I cannot find anything I like. Do you have any suggestions?”  
  
“Don’t ask me.” Frigidus frowned and climbed up the rest of the way. “I just know you as Echo.”  
  
“Yes, but I never chose that name. The ninja only called me that as part of Echo Zane, just a replica of someone else.”  
  
“Yeah, which is shitty.” Frigidus walked over and sat on the bed. “But you know, it’s not always where the name comes from, it’s what you decide it means.”  
  
Echo stared at him, skirting over the words. “Elaborate.”  
  
“The word echo means like, reflection, or repetition. They picked that because of what they assumed you were, but that’s not who you are.” Frigidus’s stare was unusually serious. “You’re so much more than that. Maybe the origins of your name suck, but you’re the one who decides what it means.” He paused for a moment, looking at the notebook. “That said, if you still want to change it I understand. If you think of something you like let me know.”  
  
Echo stored that audio for now, promising to think on it later. “I will, but for now I should probably take a break.”  
  
“Yeah, Mom finished dinner.” Frigidus smiled. “I know you don’t really eat but she worries if you’re not at the table.”  
  
“She’s far kinder than I deserve.”  
  
Frigidus poked him on the forehead as he stood up. “Hey, being negative is my job, remember? Come on, I’m hungry.” He didn’t say anything else as he headed back towards the ladder.  
  
Echo watched him leave, glancing back at the notebook. With one more sigh he shut it and set it aside.  
  
Perhaps Frigidus was right. It wasn’t about changing his name. It was about changing what it meant.  
  
\------------------  
  
    “Christ, Echo, what are you doing up here?”  
  
    The nindroid spun around and watched as Frigidus pulled himself on top of the snowy rock. They were close to the peak. Echo went out for a walk this morning, once again just wanting some space to clear his head.  
  
    How long had he been gone?  
  
    “Thinking.” He finally replied.  
  
    “Can’t do that a bit closer to home?” Frigidus leaned over to catch his breath. “Not safe up here during this time of year, you know.”  
  
    Echo frowned. “Why not?”  
  
    “Snow build up.” Frigidus pointed at the peak. There was indeed a lot of it. In fact it seemed to be twice the size that Echo remembered. “Risk of falling, or avalanches.” He lowered his voice at that last word.  
  
    “Is the village at risk?” Echo asked.  
  
    “Nah, it’s right next to a cliff that blocks most of it. Would take quite the wave to cause major damage.” Frigidus took a deep breath and straightened up. “So, how about we head farther down the mountain?”  
  
    Echo didn’t like being ordered around, but Frigidus had a point. He nodded, following his friend off the rock and toward the path. It cut into the forest, all the trees also coated with snow.  
  
    Echo liked to look at them as he walked. Some of them were so tall, ancient probably. Just how long had they been growing in such harsh conditions. It always stunned him that things could thrive on a mountain so tall.  
  
    “Still thinking about your name?” Frigidus asked.  
  
    “Yes. I’m not sure what to do.”  
  
    “Whatever, you have time to think about it.” Frigidus nudged him. “How about a more important question, what are you going to do with these powers?”  
  
    Echo frowned. “What do you mean?”  
  
    “Duh, you’re the master of ice. Are you just going to sit on that? You’re the one who insists on all this training.”  
  
    He looked away. “Wasn’t the plan to find a way to give these back to you?”  
  
    “Appreciated, but honestly, you’ve got a knack for using it. I doubt I could utilize it the way you do.” Frigidus moved so he was back in Echo’s field of vision. “And honestly, getting to know you on top of it it’s… It’s more important to me that my grandfather’s legacy is upheld, even if I’m not the one to do it.” He held up his hands. “Not to add pressure or something. I won’t make you do anything.”  
  
    Echo shook his head. “Getting to know you as well, I feel it would be a disservice not to at least try and honor him. But…” He looked at the trees. “I am not sure what to do. I’d rather not go back to the ninja, even if they aren’t entirely my enemies.”  
  
    “Eh, fuck ‘em. Do your own thing. Maybe you can do something on your own, make your own hero identity or something.”  
  
    “You’ve been watching too much TV again.”  
  
    “Hey,” Frigidus gave him a shove. “You watch that TV with me you dork.”  
  
    Echo cracked a smile, ignoring the temptation to shove him back.  
  
    His hearing picked up the sound of wood splintering. It was slow at first. His eyes shot over in the direction of the noise to see one of the pines tilting.  
  
    There was a sickening snap. The trunk split. The entire tree plummeted to the ground, shaking the earth as it landed.  
  
    Echo froze.  
  
    “Oh fuck.” Frigidus whispered.  
  
    Now he heard a different sound. At first it was almost soft, like someone running their fingers over a sheet. Then it got louder, from rushing wind into a roar.  
  
    “Oh fuck, oh fuck.” Frigidus was clearly trying not to panic, almost failing.  
  
    Move, they had to move. The trees weren’t enough cover. They had to find something to duck under.  
  
    Echo didn’t hesitate to crouch. “Climb on.”  
  
    “What?”  
  
    “Climb on, now!”  
  
    Thank goodness he listened this time, more or less jumping onto Echo’s back and wrapping his arms around his neck. Echo was beyond glad now he’d gotten this much strength with his upgrade. He broke into a sprint, using his ice to create another slope. Maybe there’d be some chance he could outrun it. No, it wouldn’t last, but hopefully it’d last long enough to help them find some cover.  
  
    “We can’t run forever.” Frigidus said. “I can’t even remember where the best spot to duck is from here.”  
  
    “We’ll have to find one.” Echo said. The roaring was even louder now. Was it just picking up more snow? Or was it from the wind rushing past his ears.  
  
    “Why not make an ice wall?”  
  
    “One that would withstand that? I… I don’t know if I could manage it.”  
  
    Echo sped forward in silence for a few moments. They broke out of the forest, still no rock big enough in sight. He didn’t dare look back at the snow following them, but Frigidus did.  
  
    “Oh holy shit.” Frigidus clung tighter. “Echo, it’s worse than I thought.”  
  
    “Not helping.” Echo hissed.  
  
    “Echo, it’s huge. I don’t… that might make it over the cliff.”  
  
    Not what he wanted to hear. He didn’t need the fate of an entire village in his hands. Trying to keep him and Frigidus alive was bad enough.  
  
    “What if my house gets wrecked again?”  
  
    The quiet fear in his voice almost made Echo trip. Panic rushed through his system. He tried to shove away the image of the snow falling from the mountain right on top of the buildings. Without a doubt Ursula would be trapped.  
  
    He had to do something. He was the master of ice now, wasn’t he? But he wasn’t strong enough, not to stop something this huge.  
  
    “Come on Echo, we’ve got to think of something.” Frigidus said. “I know you have the ability to, all the other masters of ice did.”  
  
    “I am not the other masters of ice.” Echo snapped.  
  
    “Of course not. You’re all that and more.”  
  
    Echo almost skidded to a halt, almost. He reminded himself they were still trying to outrun a natural disaster. He used his ice to take a slight turn, heading toward the village. The cliff there sloped upwards a bit, but only so much. Frigidus was right, there was too much snow by this point.  
  
    He was all that and more…  
  
    Frigidus taught him almost everything his grandfather knew, who must have learned it from his ancestors. Echo was built based on Zane, since upgraded into something even more powerful.  
  
    Just because he came after didn’t make him anything less. In his case, being an echo didn’t make him weaker.  
  
    Echo skidded to a stop, tossing Frigidus over his shoulder and into the snow. His friend coughed, forcing himself up.  
  
    “Echo, what the fuck? What are you doing?”  
  
    He spun around, staring at the wall of snow. The clouds of it kept surging upwards as it rushed forward. He only had a matter of seconds to do this, but at the same time it felt so slow.  
  
    “Echo? Hey!”  
  
    “Write that down, when we get back.” Echo planted his feet in the ground. “My name is Echo.”  
  
    “What are you talking about?”  
  
    “My name is Echo.” He raised his voice. “Regardless of why I was made, regardless of why I got these powers, they’re now mine to use as I please. I’m the master of ice. I’m the younger sibling to a nindroid who gave his life protecting those who couldn’t protect themselves, and if need be I will do the same.”  
  
    He could see it in the corner of his eye, his power levels shot far beyond max. The snow under his feet stirred. Were his arms glowing?  
  
    “My name is Echo Polaris.” He shouted, as if the fast approaching wall of snow could hear him. “And I will protect those who cannot protect themselves.”  
  
    Whatever light was radiating off his body shot into the ground. He could feel the ice underneath his feet and thrust his hands forward.  
  
    Ice shot up from below, jagged and harsh, but he didn’t let up. It kept growing, curving over towards him. It was an unbelievably deep blue.  
  
    He still didn’t let up. He felt the snow rush into it. The cloud of powder surged into the air. Some of it skirted over the wall of jagged ice, but not even close to anything dangerous.  
  
    Echo exhaled, seeing steam slip out of his mouth. The amount of energy caused him to overheat, but he still didn’t move. Not until the roaring stopped. Only then did he glance to the side to make sure everything was safe.  
  
    “Holy shit.”  
  
    Echo lowered his hands, arms shaking. He turned to look at Frigidus who was kneeling in the snow, stunned. He didn’t stop staring at the towering wall.  
  
    “Never even heard of something like that.” Frigidus mumbled before suddenly jumping to his feet. “That was amazing. You’re amazing.”  
  
    All Echo could do was laugh. “It’s not that much–”  
  
    “Do not try that.” Frigidus tackled him into a hug. “Look at that thing. It’s like, at least twenty feet tall. Holy shit.” He spun Echo around. Take some photos. Oh, oh, take a photo of me in front of it. Then people will really get a feel for it.”  
  
    “Frigidus…”  
  
    “Come on, at least one?” Frigidus tried to give him his desperate face only to blink and stagger back. “What the hell?”  
  
    Echo tilted his head.  
  
    “Your eyes. They turned white.”  
  
    He blinked. “They did?”  
  
    “Yeah, or mostly white. I can barely see your uh… pupils now? Are they pupils? Kind of cool looking though.”  
  
    Echo thought for a moment, not sure how to react to that. Why did they change color?  
  
    Still, he shrugged, flicking some snow off his hand. “I’m always cool looking.”  
  
    “Hah!” Frigidus said. “I knew I’d get you to ice pun one of these days.”  
  
    “Yes yes, so proud of yourself, aren’t we.” Echo smiled.  
  
    “Come on now, photo time.” Frigidus ran over to the wall. Seeing him standing next to it, Echo realized that it was indeed that big.  
  
    He glanced up at the top of it, comparing the blue to the sky. Almost the exact same shade.  
  
    He did that.  
  
    He smiled, looking back at his friend who was trying to look suave as he leaned against the wall. He saved a few stills to his memory.  
  
    Of course he did that.  
  
    He was the master of ice. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You can color titanium using a process called anodizing it's p nifty, it can be easy to buff off though so I imagine Echo has a handful of replacement parts


	4. Interlude 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next interlude feat. Pixal and Zane, surprisingly the most pixane thing I've ever written 
> 
> [Cover Art](http://ceata88.tumblr.com/post/180361918429/next-interlude-is-up-surprisingly-the-most-pixane)

    Pixal sighed, fingers darting over the keys. It was almost two in the morning, but thankfully she didn’t get tired easily. The only exhaustion she felt was from the lack of progress.  
  
    This should be working. They had the program, a system, and now a place for all of Zane’s code to go. It should be easy, but it wasn’t. Every time she ran it, it resulted in a failure, an error. She knew Zane was in there, the team reported hearing from him now and then, strange messages that would blip up on the screens of their phones.  
  
    Of course, she considered, based on the content of those messages, Zane was shutting her program down intentionally.  
  
    The ninja would always get excited, sometimes running in the room waving their phone. A message from Zane! The first time Cole got one she could see the relief on his face, only for it to turn to confusion when he opened it. The message was nothing but an angry expression.  
  
    Everyone else mostly got the same thing, apart from Jay who got a neutral face. Pixal almost felt offended Zane hadn’t sent her anything. He wasn’t avoiding her on purpose, was he?  
  
    She sighed again, wondering if it was even worth running the program right now. She’d just have to set it back up.  
  
    “Can you at least talk to me?” Pixal said to the wall of programming. “Send me some kind of message on why you’re being so stubborn? I imagine it’s not easy in your state, but even then…”  
  
    No response, not that strange. Pixal shrunk the programming window to stare at the empty background instead. There wasn’t much sense in installing a wallpaper on it. The computer was only meant to be temporary.  
  
    A new window popped up. She hadn’t opened it. It was a simple text file. Pixal blinked as she watched the words appear on it, letter by letter.  
  
    _Where Echo?_  
  
    Pixal glanced away from the screen. Could Zane even comprehend a full answer right now? With his code this scattered it seemed he had no trouble gathering information, just trouble accessing it all at once.  
  
    “I don’t know.” She answered honestly. They’d tried to look for him by following the trail he left. Eventually it went cold–hah–and any additional scouting missions came up short. They’d asked around towns, scanned security footage, even told the other elemental masters to keep an eye out. The closest response she ever got was Karlof telling her Echo was safe. The man said he wouldn’t reveal his location, just that he was safe.  
  
    After that, Pixal called off the searches. Jay and Nya argued against it. Kai and Cole said nothing, although the guilt on their faces said more than enough. Lloyd and Borg were the only ones who understood off the bat.  
  
    Echo didn’t want to be found. At this point it was best to respect that. If he ever came back it would be on his own terms.  
  
    She just hoped he wasn’t alone out there.  
  
    Pixal was so lost in her thoughts she didn’t notice more text appeared on the document.  
  
    _Don’t want to come back without Echo._  
  
    She frowned. “Why? You hardly know him.”  
  
    _Hard to say liiiiike this._  
  
    “Then let me run the program.” She stood up. “Please, Zane. You don’t have to leave this computer. You don’t have to talk to anyone you don’t want to. But it’d be easier to talk when you are ready. We could…” She glanced at the shrunken program window before looking down even farther. “We could talk again, just you and me. I miss you.”  
  
    Pixal collapsed back into the chair. “I hate thinking that you’re this close and yet this far away. You send all the other messages and not me. Did I do something wrong?”  
  
    _No._ The text came up immediately. _Trying to teach others a lesson. Do not think itsss working._  
  
    She tried not to be snarky as she replied, “Well maybe it would if you could form proper sentences.”  
  
   _D :_  
  
    She couldn’t keep herself from laughing at the face.  
  
    _ >:(_  
  
    That one made her laugh even louder. Somehow she could picture those expressions on his face perfectly.  
  
   _Fine. You correct. Run the program._  
  
    That made her pause. She blinked a few times. “Promise you’ll let it work this time?”  
  
    _Promise._  
  
    She smiled from relief as she reopened the window and put in the last few commands. With that she set it to go. Nothing to do now but stare at the progress percentage on the screen. Zane wouldn’t be able to respond until it was done.  
  
    He better let it work. It seemed there was a lot to talk about at this point.  
  
    Pixal didn’t get tired easy, but staring at the slow crawl of the percent number made her doze. At some point her system slipped into sleep mode on its own.  
  
    “Pixal?”  
  
    The voice made her systems jerk back to life. She sat up, looking behind her at first for the familiar voice.  
  
    “Pixal.”  
  
    She turned back to the screen. There was Zane, looking back at her, as if it was nothing more than a video chat. He still looked human, like the day they met, although the blue in his eyes seemed to glow brighter.  
  
    Something about just seeing him again made her chest go tight. The second he tilted his head the pressure became too much. Pixal buried her face in her hands. Her shoulders shook and thoughts kept darting through her head.  
  
    “Why are you crying?” Zane almost shouted.  
  
    “I am not, nindroids don’t cry.” She tried to calm herself down, reminding herself that most of this was stemmed from joy, not grief like the day she lost him. But still, seeing him now just reminded her of that. That he died, while she was so far away, unable to do anything.  
  
    Just hearing his voice again made this all seem like a dream.  
  
    “Pixal.” His voice was gentle, to the point she could practically feel his hands on her cheeks. “Look at me.”  
  
    She forced her emotions back for a moment as she glanced up. Zane’s hand seemed to be pressed against the window, not that it actually was. She’d been trapped in a computer before, she knew how it all worked.  
  
    “Sorry,” she said. “Seeing you again is… more overwhelming than I expected.”  
  
    Zane offered a smile. “Sorry for making you wait this long.”  
  
    “Then why did you?”  
  
    The smile fell. The image on his window flashed and suddenly he seemed to be standing farther away in whatever space he was in.  
  
    “I was scattered for a long time.” Zane said. “To a point I couldn’t remember anything. Bit by bit I tried to regather my code on my own, but with it all in different places I could only access so much at once.”  
  
    “I know.” Pixal said.  
  
    “But my first moment was clarity was when Cole and Kai…” He turned his head away, not finishing the thought. “And at that same moment I was in his head. I could see his thoughts, felt what he did and I… I had to protect him.”  
  
    She frowned at that, not even sure what he meant. “Protect him from what?”  
  
    Zane shifted on his feet. Once again the screen flashed, closer to him now. “Protect him from all of you.”  
  
    Her mouth dropped open. “Zane what–”  
  
    “Not you, specifically, you were nice to him.” He continued. “But he was so scared Pixal. He was scared, and lost, and alone, and my teammates, my friends, my brothers made him feel that way. At first I couldn’t believe it, I didn’t want to believe it. And then Echo tells me that Cole and Kai were trying to replace him with me I…”  
  
    The entire screen flashed. She saw an error message in the corner before it closed itself.  
  
    “I didn’t want to come back.” Zane was now sitting, staring at something she couldn’t see. “I still don’t want to come back. Echo’s the master of ice now. For whatever reason the element chose him and until my teammates learn to accept that, learn to accept that Echo is not my replacement, I refuse to come out of here.”  
  
    Pixal took a moment to process the words, trying to sort out what Zane meant. “Echo’s not your replacement.” She agreed. “But don’t you think it would help things settle if you came back?”  
  
    “No.” Zane’s tone was firm. “I saw all of it. I saw what my teammates did, because they were grieving, because they wanted me back, they were willing to toss Echo aside to do it.” He looked at her. “If I came back now, what do you think they’d do? Would they really be satisfied with that? Would they try and get my past element back? They would learn nothing.”  
  
    She frowned. “It’s not just about some life lesson, Zane.”  
  
    “Loss is inevitable.” He curled up tighter. “I know how it feels to lose someone you love. I had to go through that pain soon followed with watching my father’s work be turned into a tool for evil.”  
  
    Pixal flinched, trying not to think about how some of that was her doing. Manipulated by the Overlord or not.  
  
    “It hurts, it’s painful, and it never truly stops, but they cannot keep clinging to the past. They have to let go and move on.”  
  
    “But you’re not dead.” Pixal argued. “You’re still here, Zane.”  
  
    “But I’m not the same.” He turned to look at her. “Right now I’m stuck in a computer, and even if you made me another form I would no longer be the master of ice, no longer the white ninja. Perhaps it is a bit extreme, but I think in learning to let go of me they’ll be more willing to accept whoever I become when I return. And they’ll be more willing to accept my brother for who he is. Until they learn to let go, I don’t wish to come back. I’m too afraid of what it may lead to.”  
  
    Pixal slumped in the chair, realizing that arguing wouldn’t work. This was Zane’s decision, she’d just have to accept it.  
  
    “I meant to thank you, by the way, for calling off the search on him.”  
  
    She snorted. “Apart from respecting Echo’s decision I didn’t have a choice. Someone kept interfering with our security camera searches.”  
  
    Zane let out a nervous laugh. “Aha, I wonder who that could have been.”  
  
    Pixal hummed, not at all fooled. There was a pause for a moment, Zane’s smile faltering again.  
  
    “I saw it, you know, how long he’d been at that lighthouse. He was there when we first found it.” Zane rested his chin on his arms. “Why did my father never tell me he was there?”  
  
    Pixal straightened up. “Zane–”  
  
    “Did he truly forget, or was it out of shame. And if it’s the latter, what did he have to be ashamed of?”  
  
    She wasn’t sure the best way to word her response to that. “I think you know the answer, you just don’t wish to admit it to yourself.”  
  
    “I love my father.” Zane said. “But truthfully, in spite of all my memories of him, it’s possible I didn’t know him as well as I thought.”  
  
    “I’m sorry, Zane. I imagine he was still a good person, but no one is perfect.”  
  
    “No? I thought you were. I cannot imagine I was mistaken.”  
  
    Pixal chuckled at that. “Good to know your flattering nature hasn’t changed.”  
  
    Zane smiled at her, his image flashing closer to the screen. He rested his hand against it once more, as if leaning on it. “I do miss you, Pixal. Hopefully I can stand by your side again sooner rather than later.”  
  
    She kept smiling as she stood. She hesitated a moment before reaching out, resting her palm against the glass where his hand seemed to be.  
  
    “I hope so as well.”


End file.
